I am confident that Square One Prep has played a decisive role in my admission to 4 top business schools, among which Wharton and Booth.
I come from the Middle East where admission consulting services are not very popular.
My background is also diverse and I don't have the typical profile that top MBA schools usually look for. I am not a consultant and never worked in investment banking. Because of that, my confidence level was at its lowest, and everyone was discouraging me to even apply.
I had scheduled phone calls with several admission consultants from different companies, but it is the call with Kathryn (the owner at Square One Prep) that made me regain my confidence and made me believe that I could make it.
Kathryn's work was both on a professional level and a personal level: besides the fact that it was entirely tailored to my situation, her approach was motivating me and pushing me to always be at my best. She would identify areas in my personal/professional experience that even I would not have thought of, and help me use them in a way that reveals my strength and fit with the programs.
We had frequent and thorough phone discussions during which not a single area was left out.
Kathryn made herself available 24/7, and this was not easy knowing that there was a 7-hour difference.
In a way, working with her made me discover myself and she definitely helped me think out-of-the box, never settling for average quality, always aiming for the best.
This is what I think is of major importance: I constantly felt in good hands because I knew that I was getting the best advice and the most spot-on comments, and I think this has no price.
If you want to put all your chances on your side and don't feel like gambling with your applications, Square One Prep is the company for you.

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Around a year ago, I decided that I wanted to pursue an MBA. I had already written the GMAT and I had a good score but I had no idea where to go from there. Since I’m from an extremely competitive applicant pool (Male Indian Engineer) I decided that I would engage an MBA advisor to help run my MBA ‘project’. I remember evaluating some of the leading advisors through the free consultations they offered. At that stage – even before I had committed to engaging her services - Kathryn/Square-One spent hours on the phone with me.
The value from those discussions was more than enough to convince me that I would need their help. In reality, there is IMMENSE competition to get into the top programs and even with a perfect application you are only giving yourself a chance to get in. I’m glad I hired Square-One to coach me right from the Square-One assessment to bring focus to my MBA story - to CV preparation, short listing schools, building an application timeline, essay/application review and interview preparation.
Today, I’ve been admitted (with scholarship!) to a top school in Europe and a top school in the USA and I’m still talking to Square-One as I decide which school to pick. I definitely would not be here with these two amazing options without their support and I whole-heartedly recommend them to anyone who is in the position I was in one year ago.

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I was extremely overwhelmed when I initially started the MBA application process. I knew that I wanted to go back to school for my MBA, but I wasn’t positive exactly what I wanted to do afterwards or how I could create a cohesive story that would get me into a top program. After my initial consultation with Kathryn, I immediately felt at ease. Even though I wasn’t even a client yet, Kathryn spent over an hour on the phone with me, talking through my uncertainties and helping to boost my confidence. I was very impressed by how generous Kathryn was with her time during this pre-client phase, and as a result I decided to use Square One Prep.

After signing on with Square One Prep, it was time for me to choose the consultant that I would be working with. I will admit that I was nervous about this, as I had established such a strong connection with Kathryn; however, Kathryn was not taking on new clients at the time. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of working with my initial consultant it became apparent that we were not a good fit for each other. As a result, Kathryn made an exception to take me on as one of her clients and I am very glad that she did. Kathryn was extremely valuable in helping me to craft my story, and I noticed a significant improvement in the quality of my essays. In addition, I was very nervous for my interview and Kathryn’s mock interview was tremendously helpful in helping me to prepare. She even did a second “mini-mock” interview with me after my initial mock to make sure that I felt as confident as possible going into the interview.

Finally, Kathryn was always there for me when I needed her – I was working long hours at my job and Kathryn was more than willing to accommodate my schedule, often scheduling calls with me late at night or on the weekends. In addition, if something came up at work last minute and I needed to push back our scheduled call time, Kathryn was always understanding and flexible (but made sure that I stayed on track!)

Thanks to Kathryn, I was accepted into NYU Stern!

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Perhaps like many of you, I was initially very skeptical about using a consultant for my MBA applications; how much could a third-party help in crafting what should be a very personal application?  

I am here to tell you that, if you are looking to get help and want to get into your #1 choice, you should definitely work with Square One Prep.  I am off to Wharton in a few months and I absolutely owe this opportunity and any future accomplishments to Square One Prep.  Having just attended Wharton Welcome Weekend for all new admits from R1, I am more excited and thankful than ever.

My consultant took an extraordinary amount time and effort to understand my story and helped me establish a narrative that was not only genuine but also consistent with what business schools were looking for.  My consultant was honest, flexible, timely, and meticulous.  She really pushed me when I needed inspiration and encouragement. Her interview simulation was a hugely helpful process.  Her engaging approach to this relationship really showed that she was personally invested in my success.

 Looking back, I am surprised that I even thought about doing this whole process on my own.I have absolutely no doubt that without Square One Prep’s help I would not have gotten into the Wharton.

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Having been in the tech industry for 9 years, my goal of wanting to do an MBA was very specific: I wanted to leverage my tech background and life experiences to accomplish my dream of being a tech-focused social entrepreneur. Right from the start, I knew that my case was going to be tough from a demographics perspective - an older applicant to a full-time MBA program in a highly competitive Indian male tech engineer pool. So what all this meant was that even with a 750 GMAT I needed all the help I could get to make it to a top 10 MBA program. Kathryn and Square One Prep understood my requirements very well. But what really set Kathryn apart was her unique mix of school specific insight, attention to detail, and a refreshing in-your-face approach that really helped cut to the chase in every aspect of my application. Add to that, her amazing response time consistently throughout the process meant that help and guidance was only an email, Skype chat or phone call away. I’m happy to say that my goal of making it to my dream top 10 school came true and Square One Prep played a big role in it. I’m not sure if I could’ve managed the roller coaster emotional ride that is MBA apps all on my own and having Kathryn by my side every step of the way helped both the quality of my work and my sanity. I would highly highly recommend her!

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I do not think I would be going to business school without the help of Kathryn, and SquareOnePrep. Quite frankly, I had no idea about the amount of work that goes into the application process or how competitive the applicant pool would be.

From my first introductory call with Kathryn, I knew that SquareOnePrep was the right choice for me. Kathryn spent hours taking the time to learn about my reasons for wanting to attend business school, my career to date, and who I was as a person. Unlike other companies I had spoken with, Kathryn wanted to understand my voice and how I could bring myself to an application.

Kathryn helped me navigate every step of the application process from studying for the GMAT, to choosing my advisers, to writing my essays, to preparing for interviews. I had no idea what to write about on my applications but Kathryn spent time helping me to craft a story that was both honest and relevant to the schools to which I was applying. Her awareness and knowledge of what each school is looking for in applicants is invaluable. She consistently challenged me to raise the bar in my applications and pushed me to work harder when my writing wasn’t up to par. Without Kathryn to coach and motivate me I doubt I would have received interviews let alone admission to the schools to which I applied.

Thanks to Kathryn I received interviews at 8 of the 9 schools I applied to and admission to Kellogg, Tuck, and Booth. I full heartedly and unequivocally recommend SquareOnePrep to anyone who is serious about attending business school. As a side-note, I received scholarships from each school far in excess of the cost I spent on SquareOnePrep. I wouldn’t have received them otherwise, so in effect, it paid for itself.

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I worked with Square One Prep on a number of schools. I had experience with other consulting services last year that were more well known and didn't succeed. They seemed to just go through the motions with me. Square One Prep was different. Recommended to me, I did the free consult but was suspicious going into it, as I really thought all consultants were the same. They're not, and I could see that after one call with Square One Prep. I talked with Kathryn and was willing to pay the premium to work with her directly.

Kathryn has a wealth of experience and really wants the best for her clients. What is great about her is that she is tough and demanding; it definitely yields results.

In a competitive environment, you need a consultant that guides you and tells you what business schools are looking for. Kathryn is one of those consultants. She will go through your goals, work experience, and history. Her experience allows her to quickly connect the dots on what works and what does not.

More importantly, Kathryn really cares for her clients and you may not see this in all consultants. She truly is excited about your success and will guide you every step of the way. With Kathryn, I redefined my goals in a way that I never knew schools would be drawn to and that genuinely excited me. That is just one of the ways Kathryn helped me stand out from my competition.

The results speak for itself. I got interviews at 4 schools and a very large scholarship to attend Kellogg. If you are considering working with a consultant, speak to Square One Prep after you speak to the big players. You will see the difference just like I did.

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I started the b-school application process thinking I knew exactly how I would need to craft my applications. I felt I was a competitive candidate, with a strong GMAT score and resume, and would be (at the very least) well-positioned in my applications to HBS and Stanford GSB. After just one or two sessions with Kathryn, I quickly learned how naïve I had been. Kathryn helped me from start to finish:
- Resume: Transform my resume from a corporate/professionally-oriented format to one that most effectively highlights my undergraduate/professional/extracurricular accomplishments and activities. With Kathryn’s help, I was able to better convey my experiences and their impact
- Personal Narrative: Critically think about what I wanted to get out of my business school experience before I started to even think about drafting my essays, so that I could have an honest, passionate, and compelling narrative to tell the admissions committees. Going into the process, I had a sense for what I wanted out of business school, but Kathryn constructively challenged me to refine that to make my application stronger
- Essays: Provide key feedback on my essays and a fresh point of view. After you read your own writing enough times, you can’t help but to lose some perspective. Kathryn’s honest and direct feedback style made for a highly value-add and time-efficient essay crafting process
- Interview Prep: Prepare for the interviews with mocks that gave me peace of mind that I was ready. After Kathryn has helped you refine your narrative through the resume/essay writing part of the process, the interview also just feels less ominous
I should add that I was also starting my application process relatively late and (to make things more complicated) was traveling internationally while preparing my HBS application. Despite these obstacles, Kathryn was extremely accommodating, moving things around on her own calendar to help me get it all done. We had about 10 days to do what normally required 30 – including resume creation, narrative development, and essay drafting. (Thank you again, Kathryn!)
I’m headed to HBS in the fall, and I’m very grateful to Kathryn for everything she did to help get me here. What is most special about working with Kathryn is the relationship you develop with her. She “pushes” / challenges you to tell your own story more effectively and provides feedback on how you present yourself – all of which go well beyond the b-school application process. I certainly feel that after working with Kathryn, I speak about my goals more confidently and better understand my own strengths/weaknesses.
Kathryn also played a critical role in my application to the joint degree program between Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. Despite the different timelines for those school admissions processes, it was key that I emphasize my dual interests across all my applications, and Kathryn helped me do that effectively.

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“Wharton! Seriously?? Tuck? Come on. It only accepts a few Indians per class. These are super dream schools for you. Get Realistic. You are an Indian Engineer Male, Non – IIT background, Working as a Software Developer, and with only two years of experience under your belt. Thinking about any top school is insanity.
This is what I heard without fail from 8 admission consulting firms (in their 30 minutes sessions). I was extremely demoralized . Amongst the last two consulting sessions I had, one was with Kathryn, SOP. Honestly, their name wasn’t on the top half of my list. It didn’t even appear on the first two pages of Google Search for “MBA admission consultants”. Still, I went for the call, half-hearted and ready to listen to the same old advice.
To my surprise, it wasn’t the same. We talked for more than 2 hours in the free consultation call. We not only discussed my credentials, but even my interests and passions, and also my goals. Kathryn wasn’t impressed by my goals, but I was impressed by her knack for understanding my personality. She strongly urged me to scrap my goals because she didn’t find the right intent/motivation behind them. Not only that, going by my interests, initiatives, and personality, she suggested I research other possible career paths that I had never considered and didn’t think business schools would ever appreciate. To add to it, she agreed to connect a couple of weeks down the line to discuss the research she asked me to do. I wasn’t sure she would talk to me again given she’d already given me so much time and I was so hesitant to believe what she was saying. But she stayed in touch and two weeks later, we were on the phone again.
We talked for close to 7 hours before I officially started my consulting services with SOP. I was a little worried about the prices (the combo packages that other consulting services were also distracting because they were much cheaper than SOP). But no other company really cared about me or my success. SOP said they wouldn’t partner with me unless I went for goals that I actually felt passionate about and trusted them to guide me. Kathryn actually had to tell me more than once to stop distrusting her. She even told me to start with only a couple of schools, and only take other school packages, if needed. She didn’t upsell!. Further, even though I kept saying that i thought top schools were too risky, she encouraged me to believe in myself, and believe in SOP. So I did trust her when she suggested Wharton, my dream school that I had not had the guts to even mention I thought it was so far-fetched.
The brain-storming sessions before each essay, and then the following edits helped me put the best face to my story. I won’t deny, but at times, I lost hope of getting into a top b-School, possibly because the other consultants’ words kept haunting me, and because I kept looking at the LinkedIn profiles of selected candidates. They all had stellar professional and personal credentials. But Kathryn was always there to motivate and help me get back on track.
Eventually, we completed the application process. I received interview invites from a couple of Ivy Schools. Kathryn helped me prepare for them by taking mocks and advising on the tone, content, and length.
And voila! Fuqua, Tuck, and the school of my dreams Wharton presented me with their admission offers for their upcoming class.
My colleagues were pretty skeptical of me spending quite a few thousand dollars on admission consulting. I can say with confidence that it was well worth. I have recommended SOP to some of my friends, and they are already working with SOP for the upcoming rounds.
I would highly recommend SOP to any serious MBA aspirant who is looking for a compassionate, inspiring, and result-oriented admission consultants.
SOP’s application strategy, diligence, time management, and above all the genuine care for their clients are unusual. They made sure that “a non-IIT Indian IT male (largest cohort) with two years of experience.” got his dream B-School.

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Applying to business school is a tiring process, and one that doesn't have a clear beginning. I am sure many people were in the same position as I was; I hadn't gone through an application process in years and needed help figuring out where to begin. Which school applications should I pick up first? When should I begin my interview prep? Square One was incredibly helpful in finding the answers to these questions, and many others, which made this process seem manageable.

As I reflect back on my experience, the biggest benefit I got from both Mike and Kathryn was that they were not afraid to provide the hard truths. If you want a consultant who works like a "yes-man" than this isn't the group for you; instead Mike and Kathryn told me when I needed to think of a new approach to an essay, or if I needed to rethink my rationale for applying to a specific school. It was because of Square One that I truly got in touch with myself and my reasons for applying to B-school; in fact my initial discovery call with Mike was probably one of the most introspective experiences I've had over the past few years.

Having completed the application process, the biggest piece of advice I would offer to anyone thinking about applying to business school (whether they plan to use Square One or otherwise) is that you need to do what you can to eliminate the confounding factors that could become a reason you do not get admitted to a school. The worst thing you can do is misunderstand an essay question, or not prepare for a key moment in the interview, and then think about that for months afterwards. With Square One I was able to check all the preparation boxes -- they helped me get to the root of every question and the mock interview I conducted with Kathryn felt like a word for word facsimile of the real deal. Regardless of how my applications turned out I felt confident in what I had put forth, and this made all the differences as you play the waiting game prior to a decision.

I would happily recommend Square One to any aspiring business school attendees

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